


Synopsis: Through a Glass Darkly

by dairesfanficrefuge_archivist



Category: Highlander: The Series
Genre: Meta, Season/Series 04
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-12-31
Updated: 2003-12-31
Packaged: 2018-12-18 07:16:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11869281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dairesfanficrefuge_archivist/pseuds/dairesfanficrefuge_archivist
Summary: Note from Daire, the archivist: this story was originally archived atDaire's Fanfic Refuge. Deciding to give the stories a more long-term home, I began importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in August 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address onDaire's Fanfic Refuge's collection profile.





	Synopsis: Through a Glass Darkly

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Daire, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Daire's Fanfic Refuge](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Daire%27s_Fanfic_Refuge). Deciding to give the stories a more long-term home, I began importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in August 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Daire's Fanfic Refuge's collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/dairesfanficrefuge/profile).

Through A Glass Darkly

**THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY**

We all tend to see events and people through the prism of our own desires and prejudices. We admire icons, entertainers, sports figures, clergy, politicians (no names will be mentioned...hehe), then find out that they are fallible human beings. Sometimes they turn out to be terrible people, but...if we admire them...we remember only the good. After all, if we value something evil or destructive...what does that say about us? 

This episode shows how the events surrounding the attempt to place Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie), on the throne were viewed differently by Cochrane, the idealist, and MacLeod, the realist. 

We met Bonnie Prince Charlie in 'Take back the Night' just after Culloden, so he is not a new character. Interestingly, he does not recognize Duncan from that time although they were very close, (though Duncan does look 'familiar' to him). Happily, he was drunk, or he would have wondered how the Highlander kept his youthful appearance after thirty hard years. As Duncan once said, 'good skin runs in my family.' 

_New characters:_

**WARREN COCHRANE, A/K/A WARREN GODDARD** \- An Immortal fellow highlander who fought alongside Duncan against the British in the 18th Century uprisings against the crown. Prince Charlie was his idol, and still is. 

**NANCY GODDARD** \- Warren's wife, knows nothing of Immortality. 

**ANDREW DONNELLY** \- Warren's Immortal student, does not share his veneration of Bonnie Prince Charlie memorabilia. 

**INSPECTOR DEON** \- Paris police inspector. 

**INNKEEPER** \- He only has one line, but he's played by F. Braun McAsh, swordmaster. 

* * *

Cemetery in Paris 

'Alexa Bond,   
Beloved' ...She's gone.   
The gravestone is simple,   
Only three words thereon,   
This chilled winter morning-   
Two men pay respects,   
Duncan gives comfort,   
While Methos reflects. 

'Alexa loved Greece,   
But...I buried her here,   
The Isles were too far,   
I wanted her near.   
I knew she'd die soon-   
Yet when she closed her eyes...'   
He forms a sad smile,   
'It was...a surprise.' 

MacLeod quotes a saying,   
He learned long ago,   
Insight passed down-   
From the wise Navajo,   
'The spirit, it's said-   
Will forever survive-   
If it lives in the memory-   
Of someone alive.' 

While Methos kids Mac,   
(For a kid, he's quite smart)   
The Buzz jolts them both,   
Making them start.   
Mac goes exploring,   
Seeking its source,   
Methos hangs back-   
Elder caution, of course. 

Inside a Small Building 

The corridor's long,   
In darkness, arrayed,   
Mac spies the Immortal-   
And readies his blade,   
He announces his name,   
And that of his clan,   
'Stay away!' shrieks the Immie,   
As loud as he can. 

That scream is familiar,   
'Cochrane?' asks Mac,   
How often his battle cry-   
Led an attack,   
On Eriskay Island,   
They walloped the British,   
But Cochrane, at present,   
Is nervous and skittish. 

He bolts from MacLeod,   
Roaring for aid,   
Doesn't recognize Mac,   
He's a man sore afraid.   
Mac rejoins Methos-   
Who's mildly annoyed,   
'You should,' he warns Mac-   
'Be more paranoid.' 

'His fear could be faked,   
First confuse then pursue you,'   
'Methos, you don't-   
Trust anyone, do you?'   
'Don't make it a habit,   
It's been my perception-   
Life is safer that way...   
But... you're the exception.' 

'Warren was my friend,   
Never ran from a fight,   
If he wanted my head,   
He'd face me, all right.'   
Mac remembers the battles,   
The blood freely flowing,   
And through all the fights,   
Warren Cochrane's face glowing. 

Flashback, Eriskay Island, Scotland, 1745 

Prince Charlie's a tiger,   
Finally baring his claws,   
The Highlanders rally,   
Supporting his cause,   
They fought hard this day,   
The British were beaten,   
Mac and Warren relax,   
With their comrades, they've eaten. 

'The men fought like fiends!'   
Warren speaks of a pair,   
Father and son,   
Mac saw both die there.   
''Twas a glorious death,   
I'd trade Immortality-   
Just to father a son,'   
Cochran states with finality. 

'If bravery was all-   
That it took,' declares Mac,   
'We'd own all of England-   
By now. What we lack...   
Is the training and numbers,   
That the British possess,   
I'll settle for just Scotland,   
After this mess.' 

Mac continues, 'I hear...   
That Charlie is planning-   
To march upon Derby,   
It'll be his unmanning,   
We must have more time,   
To gather our forces,   
It's too much, too soon,   
We'll deplete our resources.' 

Then Warren reacts-   
With a spirited defense,   
His passion for Charlie's-   
Leadership, is intense.   
'Charlie is brilliant,   
He'll recapture the throne,   
All England and Scotland,   
He'll rule...he alone.' 

Warren has faith-   
In his favorite royal.   
If Duncan says different,   
He must be disloyal,   
Mac assures Warren,   
With a victory boast,   
Then the troops hoist a drink-   
'To Charlie!' A toast. 

Present Day, Outside the Cemetery 

A police car pulls up,   
Mac tells Methos, 'Leave!'   
'Are you Duncan MacLeod?'   
MacLeod plays naive.   
'Is there a problem?'   
The Inspector's look sours,   
Deon wants to know-   
Where Mac's been, these past hours. 

'A man said that you-   
Came at him with a sword.   
Please come with us-   
Of your own accord.'   
'What would I be doing-   
With a sword?' (MacLeod's sly),   
He probably slipped it-   
To the very old guy! 

Police Station 

'He's very confused,'   
Explains the Inspector,   
'No idea who he is,   
We can only conjecture,'   
Mac offers to help,   
But, here's something new...   
A matched missing person's-   
Report has come through. 

'His name's Warren Goddard,   
We've sent for his wife,'   
His old friend's condition-   
Stabs Mac like a knife.   
Unshaven, unkempt,   
Ready to break,   
Mac's Buzz jolts him hard...   
With a massive headache. 

Warren looks up and shrieks!   
'That's HIM! That's the man!'   
He cringes from Mac,   
As far as he can,   
'Listen,' Mac soothes...   
As he gently reminds him-   
Of shared memories,   
Hoping sanity finds him. 

Happy thoughts from his youth,   
Then more visions show,   
These, not so pleasant,   
Warren screams again... 'NO-o-o!'   
Doesn't know who he is,   
Scared of what Mac intends,   
Mac gives him a bear hug,   
'Warren! We were best friends!' 

Flashback, Scotland, 1746, Before the Battle of Culloden 

Mac finds his friend dead,   
A knife through his heart,   
Thirty corpses attest-   
That he did his part-   
The English paid dearly,   
But, the Scots are outnumbered,   
The British outflank them,   
And advance unencumbered. 

Mac yanks out the knife,   
Saying, 'The men saw you dead,'   
Cochrane must leave,   
Mac will fight in his stead.   
Mac voices his doubts,   
Over Charlie's ability-   
To lead men in war...   
Despite his nobility. 

Warren won't hear it!   
Savagely backhands Mac!   
Calls him a traitor!   
But, at once, takes it back.   
Mac returns it in kind,   
He will not brook a stain-   
On the name of MacLeod.   
Even friends must restrain. 

Tomorrow's the fight-   
On Culloden Moor,   
Cochrane can't be there,   
For this, he's heartsore,   
'Glory time's here!'   
They exchange their adieus,   
'For us and for Charlie,'   
MacLeod, you can't lose!' 

Present Day, Police Station 

Images from his past-   
Have him quaking with fear,   
Lightning? A sword?   
A face that's unclear?   
MacLeod's now concerned...   
Warren might spill the beans,   
And mention the Game,   
Unless he intervenes. 

'Give us a moment?'   
He requests of Deon,   
Too late. Nancy Goddard's-   
Arrived, whereupon...   
Warren entreats-   
'Do I know her?' He's puzzled.   
Mac wants him alone,   
To make sure he's muzzled. 

'She's your wife,' Duncan says,   
Then questions her, fast...   
'Has he mentioned my name?   
Does he speak of the past?'   
It appears she knows nothing-   
Was left in the lurch,   
'He was in Normandy,   
Doing research.' 

No talk of the Game,   
Or Immortals, as yet.   
But, Mac doesn't feel-   
That Warren should be set-   
Free. He won't live-   
If he's challenged, Mac knows   
But, Nancy insists,   
So home Warren goes. 

'Shakespeare & Company'   
(Don Salzer's old Bookstore) 

A salvage attempt-   
Goes on in the basement,   
Methos is striving-   
To save from effacement-   
The clutter of centuries,   
Lovingly stashed,   
Mementos that others-   
Had probably trashed. 

MacLeod looks around-   
He's curious and sees-   
Instructions for cooking-   
Sea anemones?   
But he hasn't come-   
For recipes foreign,   
He wants to ask Methos-   
About his friend, Warren. 

'He cannot remember-   
The facts of his life,   
Doesn't know who he is,   
Recognize his own wife,   
Can Immortals get amnesia?   
Complete mental block?'   
'If he's not faking...   
It's emotional shock.' 

'Methos...this is very-   
Important to me,   
I need Watcher files,   
Warren's...ASAP.'   
'What would it be like?'   
Methos wonders aloud,   
'A fresh start? A blessing?'   
'Till you're killed,' says MacLeod. 

The 'Goddard' Home 

Nothing makes sense,   
To Warren, it's muddled,   
Even prompted by Nancy,   
He still is befuddled.   
'You were born,' she recites-   
'In nineteen sixty-four,   
You write travel books,   
And collect Scottish lore.' 

Flashback, Normandy, Previous Week 

Indicating to Andrew...   
'There stood Charlie...Observe!   
We'd have rallied the troops,   
But MacLeod lost his nerve.'   
'You'd have had...,' retorts Andrew-   
'Had it been arranged-   
Ten thousand dead Scots,   
And nothing would've changed!' 

Andrew's fed up-   
With Warren's obsession,   
But, Cochrane persists...   
'Scotland still feels oppression,   
I've chosen you to-   
Carry on after me,   
It's your obligation-   
To make Scotland free!' 

Present Day, Back at the 'Goddard' Home 

'Marching...a sword...   
Gunpowder...screams...'   
Are these Warren's memories-   
Or hideous dreams?   
He clutches his head,   
Not to hear, not to see...   
Cries in anguish to Nancy...   
'What's happening to me?' 

A Wintry Paris Street 

Methos warns Mac,   
'Cochrane's a flake,   
Getting involved-   
With him's a mistake.'   
Mac: 'He's a danger,   
We'll all be involved.'   
Methos: 'Lure him outside,   
Take his head, problem solved!' 

But, Methos is kidding,   
Or is he? One wonders.   
He has learned, through the years-   
To avoid needless blunders.   
He's brought Watcher files,   
At Duncan's request,   
Answers to questions-   
Mac wanted addressed. 

Cochrane's been 'Goddard,'   
Fifteen years, so it seems,   
He writes travel books-   
With historical themes.   
'Where was he exactly...   
For most of last week?'   
Methos doesn't know-   
Then Mac's fingers speak. 

He flips the file's papers...   
One by one...there they go,   
Deliberately dropped,   
Into the wet snow.   
Methos starts scurrying-   
To halt the fallout,   
'I'll do what I can!'   
Then he hisses, 'Boy Scout.' 

The 'Goddard' Home 

MacLeod's come with hope-   
That he'll be successful,   
His friend must be cured-   
But, the effort is stressful.   
'You were born,' states MacLeod-   
'In 1485,   
Killed in 1513...   
But you're still alive.' 

'I'm Immortal, like you,'   
Warren finds this surreal,   
Mac stabs Cochrane's hand,   
They both watch it heal.   
' _What are you hiding?_ '   
Mac ignores Warren's pleas,   
'No more!' Warren shrieks-   
But, his mind finally sees... 

Andrew's deriding-   
'Yours is a lost cause!   
Your Bonnie Prince Charlie-   
Was a fool, full of flaws!   
You've wasted your life,   
Admiring that boozer,   
Charlie was _nothing!_   
Like you, just a loser!' 

MacLeod snaps him out-   
Of his dark reverie,   
Shows him a goblet,   
'Recall Picardy?'   
Through his mind's mist,   
He relives that time vile,   
Warren remembers-   
Prince Charlie's exile. 

Flashback, Auberge aux Arts, Normandy, 1786 

'History's course-   
Is about to be changed,'   
Warren whispers to Mac,   
'We'll have it arranged.'   
There, on the stairs-   
Prince Charlie is spied,   
'A man amongst men!'   
Says Warren, with pride. 

In red velvet tunic,   
With gold filigree,   
Charlie's the image-   
Of true royalty.   
His thoughts hearken back   
To Culloden's foul day,   
Then Warren pipes up,   
To Duncan's dismay. 

'I can assemble-   
Ten thousand brave forces.'   
Charlie perks up,   
'You have the resources?'   
'Just give the word,   
We Scots won't be swerved,'   
'Gentlemen,' says the innkeeper,   
'Dinner is served.' 

Duncan is furious!   
'I'll not ask one clan-   
To forfeit their lives,   
By following that man!   
He's not fit to lead!'   
Warren calls Mac a traitor,   
'You refuse to acknowledge-   
Scotland's liberator!' 

'If you will not join me,   
Then stop me, you won't!'   
Both men cross swords,   
'Gentlemen! Don't!   
If two can't agree-   
On my fitness for leading,   
How can ten thousand?'   
Says Charlie, conceding. 

'Sorry, Mr.Cochrane,   
I will not remain,   
And, furthermore, cannot-   
Lead your campaign,'   
Warren is shaken,   
Turns to Mac with a hiss,   
'Never will I-   
Forgive you for this.' 

The 'Goddard' Home 

'Because of YOU!'   
Warren lunges at Mac   
'You betrayed Charlie!   
Wouldn't launch an attack!'   
'No, Warren...think-   
He was a lost cause,   
Your remembrance of Charlie-   
That's not how it was!' 

Back to Auberge aux Arts, Normandy, 1786 

The scene is replayed,   
Now, through Mac's eyes,   
Downstairs Charlie lurches,   
About to capsize,   
Drunk as a skunk,   
His tongue appears stuck,   
When he speaks of Culloden,   
He calls it, 'bad luck.' 

'Banquets, the ladies...'   
Exile is expensive,   
To Warren's brave offer,   
He appears apprehensive,   
Mac notes Charlie's love-   
Is for his drinking cup,   
But Warren still hopes,   
'Dry him out, clean him up.' 

'He's a symbol, pleads Warren,   
To rally and die for,'   
Mac won't ask the clans,   
'Not any more.'   
Charlie's collapsed,   
A sniveling sot,   
Despite Warren's dream,   
Bonnie Prince, he is not. 

Shakespeare & Company Bookstore 

MacLeod has returned-   
To the sanctum sanctorum,   
There he finds Methos,   
The soul of decorum,   
Reading some notes-   
'Chinese apothecary,'   
But, Mac only wants-   
Cochrane's itinerary 

'He's built Charlie up,   
Like a legend, a myth,   
Worshipping him,   
Like a sacred monolith.'   
To Methos, Mac tells-   
Both versions, so then-   
Here comes good old Charlie-   
Down the same stairs...again. 

Says Methos, the wise,   
'We _all_ rewrite history,   
All countries do it,   
It's not a great mystery,   
A hero is needed,   
So, we turn a boozer-   
Into a prince,   
When in truth, he's a loser.' 

'It's the legend that matters,'   
Age instructs youth,   
'What matters right now,'   
Says MacLeod, 'is the truth.'   
'Maybe this truth-   
Cannot be faced.'   
'What did you find?'   
Urges Mac, with some haste. 

'Cochrane left Friday,   
But, his Watcher was busy,   
His sister got married...   
Don't get in a tizzy!   
Watchers have lives,   
Just like you and I,   
Do you think that they are...   
The Immortal FBI?' 

'Cochrane took with him-   
Andrew Donnelly, a kid,   
Most likely his student,   
Who knows what they did?'   
'Where's the kid now?'   
'That's the question, my friend,   
No one has seen him,   
Since the week-end.' 

The 'Goddard' Home 

Mac's at the door,   
Nancy's very upset,   
'Warren went out,   
Hasn't come back, as yet.'   
Mac asks about Donnelly,   
'An orphan, that one,   
Helped with research,   
To Warren, like a son.' 

A knock a the door,   
Inspector Deon,   
Mac's out of sight-   
But, he hears what goes on.   
'Andrew Donnelly's been found,   
In Normandy...dead.   
Old inn, long abandoned,   
Someone cut off his head!' 

Auberge aux Arts, Normandy, Present Day 

Mac knew where to come,   
Where last he saw Charlie,   
Besotted, in tears,   
Drowned in liquid malt barley,   
It's dark, but his flashlight,   
Finds Warren on his knees,   
MacLeod asks, 'What happened?'   
No more fantasies. 

'You brought Andrew here,   
Then your student died,'   
Then Warren remembers,   
Insults Andrew cried,   
'Your life has been wasted-   
On a bum that is dead!   
Charlie was _nothing!_ '   
Then he took Andrew's head! 

The moment he did it,   
In horror, he recoiled,   
'Get off me!' he shrieked   
As the Quickening roiled,   
His agony so great,   
All memory fled,   
'You killed your own student!'   
Mac's words hotly said. 

'I'm a monster,' sobs Warren,   
'Please slay me,' to Mac   
'What can be more evil?'   
But, MacLeod won't attack,   
'Why couldn't you-   
Have left it alone?   
Now I must remember!'   
He leaps up with a groan. 

A sword in one hand,   
Flashlight in the other,   
They fight in the darkness,   
Barely seeing one another,   
Warren's disarmed,   
But his life will not end,   
'You'll live with this,'   
Says Mac, to his friend. 

For the last blessed time,   
We live Warren's story   
As Charlie once more,   
Walks those stairs to glory,   
'My thanks to you,' sir   
'I can't lead your campaign,   
Thank heaven, we're spared-   
Seeing Charlie again. 

Wintry Paris Street 

Mac's telling Methos,   
'Now Warren's on the run,   
Had a wife, a nice house,   
Now all that's done.   
Should I have left him-   
Alone to forget?'   
Methos answers, 'We've all-   
Done things we regret.' 

Mac asks, 'If you could-   
Start over, would you?'   
'You mean forget all,   
And begin life anew?   
No,' Methos thinks-   
Of the wise Navajos,   
'Who'd remember Alexa?'   
Mac smiles as he goes. 

Peace, Emit   
© 2002 

**_Under the Kilt_ from Highlander: The Official Site: **

Don Paonessa, Creative Consultant, Post Production   
"This was a show that was interesting for Post because we were creating these hallucinations, so there was an attempt to try and give them a different time and space. They were head-trips. We did some stuff with color timing and I did some weird stuff when the bad guy/good guy, Warren Cochrane, played by Dougray Scott, was meeting his student. We tried to create a kind of Impressionist look." 

**Ken Gord, Producer**   
"There we got Dougray Scott who went on to big things; he starred in _Mission Impossible II._ I think the flashbacks in this show were terrific." 

~ Double Jeopardy   
  
---


End file.
